Economic Growth (Immigration)

Peter Lilley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assumptions he has made, in forecasting economic growth, about the impact of immigration on (a) the growth of the labour force and (b) the rate of growth of productivity per head of the existing labour force.

John Healey: Net inward migration makes a positive contribution to growth of the UK labour force and the trend rate of output growth. Details of the Treasury's methodology for projecting trend growth and its productivity and labour input components are set out in the publication "Trend Growth: Recent Developments and Prospects" (2002). The projection for net inward migration is based on projections by the Government Actuary's Department. The Treasury's latest published economic forecast and underlying assumptions for trend growth and its components were set out in Budget 2005, and will be updated in the forthcoming pre-Budget report.

Stamp Duty

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue was raised from stamp duty, on (a) residential and (b) commerical property in (i) each Government office region, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) Northern Ireland in each financial year since 1996–97.

Ivan Lewis: Latest estimates of the amount of stamp duty raised on residential land and property transactions are available at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/stamp_duty/table15_2_ october04.pdf
	Latest estimates for stamp duty raised on commercial transactions are given in the table.
	
		
			  £ million 
			  1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 United Kingdom 385 665 1,075 1,360 1,540 1,445 1,485 1,280 760 
			   
			 England and Wales 355 615 995 1,255 1,405 1,285 1,350 1,030 555 
			 North East 5 20 25 30 25 25 35 30 20 
			 North West 30 50 70 95 105 100 145 105 50 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 20 35 50 75 85 75 85 85 30 
			 East Midlands 20 31 130 70 60 65 80 55 30 
			 West Midlands 30 45 85 90 90 110 120 95 50 
			 East of England 40 55 80 110 115 155 135 95 35 
			 London 100 210 290 440 500 390 350 260 210 
			 South East 65 110 170 225 290 250 215 185 75 
			 South West 30 45 65 90 100 95 135 90 35 
			   
			 Wales 10 15 30 30 35 30 45 30 15 
			   
			 Scotland and Northern Ireland 30 50 80 105 135 160 135 245 205

Tax Credits

Meg Hillier: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in Hackney, South and Shoreditch received tax credits in 2004–05; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: In 2003–04 there were on average 4.6 thousand families in the Hackney, South and Shoreditch constituency who benefited from child and working tax credits. Figures for 2004–05 will be available after family incomes and circumstances have been finalised.

Tax Credits

Edward Davey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the expenditure on child tax credit for parents of 16 to 19-year-olds in full-time education for (a) 2005–06, (b) 2006–07 and (c) 2007–08;
	(2)  what the estimated expenditure is on child benefit for 16 to 19-year-olds in (a) 2005–06, (b) 2006–07 and (c) 2007–08.

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available.
	The latest figures on the number of children by age for whom child benefit is received are published in "Child Benefit. Quarterly Statistics. May 2005". The publication can be found on the HMRC website under the link given below:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/child_benefit/quarterlv.htm
	The latest figures available on the number of children by age for whom child tax credit is received are published in "Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics. April 2005". The publication can be found on the HMRC website under the link below:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/c-wtc-stats-april05.pdf

Minimum Wage

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses were found to be employing workers for less than the minimum wage in (a) Houghton and Washington East and (b) Sunderland city council area in each year since the minimum wage was introduced; and how many were (i) fined and (ii) forced to cease trading.

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available.
	National minimum wage statistical data is not held by reference to constituency or council areas.

Child Trust Fund Vouchers

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many child trust fund vouchers had been issued up to 30 September in West Lancashire; how many of these have been cashed; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested is available only at disproportionate cost. UK-wide information on the number of child trust fund vouchers issued and the number of accounts opened are published quarterly on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/child_trust_funds/child-trust-funds.htm. The second set of quarterly figures was published on 31 August 2005.
	Data showing activity to 20 November will be published on the 30 November 2005.

Childcare Vouchers

Margaret Moran: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the take-up rate of tax-free child care vouchers.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of the cost of the new tax and national insurance contributions (NICs) exemption for employer supported child care were included in page 6 of the "Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report" and "Financial Statement and Budget Report 2004" 1 . Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs are monitoring the levels of take-up but the information is not yet available.
	1 This page can be accessed at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/7A8/DF/bud04_cha_190.pdf

Document Terminology

Andrew Selous: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on the use of the word spouse in official documents; if he will encourage the use of the term spouse/partner; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: For tax purposes, official documents and forms will continue to use the term "spouse" where it already occurs. Following the start of the civil partnership scheme on the 5 December 2005 documents and forms will in due course include the term "civil partner" to recognise this new relationship.
	From 5 December, in line with the changes to tax credits legislation made by the Civil Partnership Act and consequential regulations, child and working tax credits forms and documents will refer to an extended definition of the term 'couple', including same-sex couples.

Farming Industry (Suicides)

Anthony Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many suicides were recorded in the farming industry in each of the last five years.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Anthony Steen, dated 10 November 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to answer your question asking how many suicides were recorded in the farming industry in each of the last five years. (26269)
	The most recently available information is for deaths in 2004. Figures for deaths in farm workers or farm owners from suicide or injury or poisoning of undetermined intent are shown in the table for each year from 2000 to 2004.
	
		Number of deaths from intentional self-harm(1) and injury or poisoning of undetermined intent(2) in farm workers or farm owners(3), England and Wales, 2000–04(4)
		
			 Calendar year Number of deaths 
		
		
			 2000 58 
			 2001 55 
			 2002 45 
			 2003 55 
			 2004 42 
		
	
	(1) The cause of death for intentional self-harm was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (1CD-9) codes E950 to E959 for 2000, and for the years 2001 to 2004, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (1CD-10) codes X60-X84.
	(2) The cause of death for injury or poisoning of undetermined intent was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (1CD-9) codes E980 to E989 excluding E988.8 for 2000, and, for the years 2001 to 2004, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (1CD-10) codes Y10-Y34 excluding Y33.9 where the coroner's verdict was pending.
	(3) The occupation coded at death registration is the last gainful occupation of the deceased, as supplied by the informant who registers the death and is recorded for all persons aged 16 to 74. ONS Standard Occupation Classification 1990 (SOC90) was used to code data for 2000, and ONS Standard Occupational Classification 2000 (SOC2K) was used to code data from 2001 to 2004.
	(4) Data are for occurrences of death in each calendar year.

Films (Tax Relief)

Don Foster: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will extend the deadline for principal photography and acquisition to be completed for films claiming tax relief under section 48 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 1997;
	(2)  what arrangements have been made for the transition period to the new tax credit system for films claiming under section 42 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 1997.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government have recently carried out a consultation on the replacement of the current tax relief for UK film production. We will consider the representations that have been made and make an announcement in due course.

Air Weapons

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many air weapon offences were committed in the Humberside police area in each of the last five years.

Hazel Blears: The information requested is given in the following table.
	
		Offences involving air weapons recorded by Humberside police, 1999–2000 to 2003–04
		
			  Number of offences 
		
		
			 1999–2000 482 
			 2000–01 433 
			 2001–02(5) 410 
			 2002–03(6) 312 
			 2003–04 264 
		
	
	(5) Figures for some crime categories may have been inflated by some police forces implementing the principles of the National Crime Recording Standard in advance of national implementation.
	(6) The National Crime Recording Standard was introduced on 1 April 2002. Figures before and after this date are not directly comparable.

Air Weapons

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Violent Crime Reduction Bill on the pastime of airsofting; and what representations he has received on this issue.

Hazel Blears: We have received representations from both participants and organisers, including the Association of British Airsoft, about the effects of the Violent Crime Reduction Bill and are considering whether it would be appropriate and possible for the sport of airsoft to be exempted from the provisions of the Bill without undermining its main purpose. Under the provisions of the Bill as currently drafted, participants will still be able to use their existing guns and will be able to buy any airsoft which is not so realistic as to make it indistinguishable from a real firearm.

Firearms Certificates

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many firearms certificate applications were processed by each police force in England and Wales in each of the last three years for which records are available.

Hazel Blears: The information requested is given in the following table.
	
		Firearm certificate applications in England and Wales by police force area, 2001 to 2003–04 Number
		
			 Police force area 2001 2002 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 1,692 1,689 1,430 633 
			 Bedfordshire 470 475 453 196 
			 Cambridgeshire 919 806 747 322 
			 Cheshire 919 852 763 349 
			 Cleveland 273 276 219 121 
			 Cumbria 986 1,055 896 332 
			 Derbyshire 768 1,003 839 467 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2,845 2,823 2,452 954 
			 Dorset 967 912 774 483 
			 Durham 647 803 691 293 
			 Essex 1,160 1,373 1,183 553 
			 Gloucestershire 847 860 749 225 
			 Greater Manchester 640 542 458 315 
			 Hampshire 1,484 1,471 1,438 753 
			 Hertfordshire 591 606 537 307 
			 Humberside 960 945 872 349 
			 Kent 1,393 1,241 1,427 577 
			 Lancashire 935 859 787 381 
			 Leicestershire 579 578 504 246 
			 Lincolnshire 1,210 1,237 956 269 
			 London, City of 5 9 7 5 
			 Merseyside 348 265 260 38 
			 Metropolitan police 1,645 1,538 1,354 734 
			 Norfolk 1,216 1,144 1,026 454 
			 Northamptonshire 728 769 726 417 
			 Northumbria 1,117 1,158 1,036 387 
			 North Yorkshire 1,607 2,357 2,127 738 
			 Nottinghamshire 657 681 637 331 
			 South Yorkshire 531 520 461 283 
			 Staffordshire 899 944 854 340 
			 Suffolk 1,283 1,030 935 428 
			 Surrey 887 848 780 399 
			 Sussex 1,892 1,506 1,479 538 
			 Thames Valley 2,163 1,929 1,973 569 
			 Warwickshire 615 587 542 260 
			 West Mercia 1,259 1,079 1,199 893 
			 West Midlands 592 646 634 435 
			 West Yorkshire 871 923 811 432 
			 Wiltshire 906 1,049 978 282 
			 Dyfed-Powys 1,142 1,191 1,117 351 
			 Gwent 233 379 463 120 
			 North Wales 795 733 634 255 
			 South Wales 518 608 553 257 
			  
			 England and Wales 42,194 42,299 38,761 17,071 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data collected by calendar year until 2002, financial year thereafter.
	2. Includes granted and refused applications for new, renewal and variation certificates.

Police

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in (a) the South Tyneside area command and (b) Northumbria in each year since 1997.

Hazel Blears: The available information is provided in the following table.
	
		Number of police officers (full-time equivalent) (1997–2005)
		
			 As at 31 March South Tyneside(9) Northumbria 
		
		
			 1997 — 3,677 
			 1998 — 3,769 
			 1999 — 3,840 
			 2000 — 3,788 
			 2001 254.93 3,857 
			 2002 267.59 3,929 
			 2003 333.31 4,018 
			 2004 392.14 4,061 
			 2005 441.27 4,088 
		
	
	(9) Data is unavailable prior to 2001.

Police

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans there are to expand the number of (a) full-time and (b) part-time police officers working in (i) Romford, (ii) Havering, (iii) Essex and (iv) Greater London over the next 12 months.

Hazel Blears: This information is not available centrally. The number of police officers deployed in particular areas of Essex and London are operational decisions which are the responsibility of the chief constable and the commissioner.

Police

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police cells are in use in Essex, broken down by location.

Hazel Blears: This is an operational matter for the chief constable of Essex police but I understand that the numbers of cells in use in Essex are as set out in the following table.
	
		
			 Police cells in use in Essex Number 
		
		
			 Braintree 8 
			 Brentwood 7 
			 Chelmsford 11 
			 Clacton 12 
			 Colchester 17 
			 Grays 12 
			 Harlow 14 
			 Harwich 5 
			 Loughton 3 
			 Rayleigh 16 
			 Southend 23 
			 South Woodham Ferrers 4 
			 Stansted 3 
			 Tilbury 3 
			 Total 138

Police

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the projected funding per head of the population was for each police authority in England and Wales in 2004–05.

Hazel Blears: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 7 June 2005, Official Report, column 514W.

Police

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers there were in Leeds, North West in each year since 1997, broken down by ethnicity; and what percentage of the total in each year was accounted for by each ethnic group.

Hazel Blears: This information is not collected centrally. Data are available for West Yorkshire police and is provided in the following table.
	
		Police officer strength for West Yorkshire (1997–2005) Ethnicity breakdown(10) Full-time equivalent(11)
		
			 As at 31 March White Mixed Black or black British Asian or Asian British Other ethnic group Not stated Total minority ethnic Total all Police officers 
		
		
			 1997 — — — — — — 130 5,209 
			 1998 — — — — — — 133 5,155 
			 1999 — — — — — — 131 4,982 
			 2000 — — — — — — 127 4,822 
			 2001 — — — — — — 139 4,815 
			 2002 — — — — — — 152 4,889 
			 2003 4,830 29 38 87 9 45 163 5,037 
			 2004 5,088 38 37 100 11 40 186 5,314 
			 2005 5,427 46 43 120 12 24 221 5,671 
		
	
	(10) Ethnicity breakdown is only available from 2003 onwards.
	(11) FTE includes those on career breaks and maternity/paternity leave.
	
		Police officer strength for West Yorkshire (1997–2005) Ethnicity Breakdown(12) Percentage
		
			 As at 31 March White Mixed Black or black British Asian or Asian British Other ethnic group Not stated Total minority ethnic Total number (FTE) of police officers 
		
		
			 1997 — — — — — — 2.5 5,209 
			 1998 — — — — — — 2.6 5,155 
			 1999 — — — — — — 2.6 4,982 
			 2000 — — — — — — 2.6 4,822 
			 2001 — — — — — — 2.9 4,815 
			 2002 — — — — — — 3.1 4,889 
			 2003 95.9 0.6 0.8 1.7 0.2 0.9 3.2 5,037 
			 2004 95.7 0.7 0.7 1.9 0.2 0.8 3.5 5,314 
			 2005 95.7 0.8 0.8 2.1 0.2 0.4 3.9 5,671 
		
	
	(12) Ethnicity breakdown is only available from 2003 onwards

Police

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many criminal investigators there were in the Bedfordshire police force in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: The available information is for 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05 and is given in the table. Information for previous years is not currently available.
	
		Police officers in CID function (full-time equivalent) in Bedfordshire (1997–2005)
		
			  CID(13) officers 
		
		
			 1997 n/a 
			 1998 n/a 
			 1999 n/a 
			 2000 n/a 
			 2001 n/a 
			 2002 n/a 
			 2003 85 
			 2004 124 
			 2005 131 
		
	
	(13) This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

Belfast Protocol

Joan Walley: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what action he will take in response to the publication of the Belfast Protocol by the British Toilet Association on 11 October; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: I met with the British Toilet Association on 11 October to discuss good practice in public toilet provision. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will work with the BTA to produce further guidance, including examples of best practice. This will be undertaken as part of our "How To Deliver Cleaner, Safer, Greener Communities" good practice programme.

Departmental Estate

David Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what information he collects on (a) the number of buildings, (b) the number of staff working from each building and (c) the management of the buildings in (i) his Department and (ii) its executive agencies.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Information collected by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is as follows:
	(a) Number of buildings
	(i) The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has four headquarters buildings in London which are in the process of being rationalised. There is additional minor office space at Hempstead House, Kernel Hempstead, Ashdown House, Hastings and 1 High Street, Glossop.
	The Fire and Rescue Service Directorate also occupies premises at Marchington, Moreton-in-Marsh, Little Rissington and Garston.
	A team to oversee Thames Gateway is based in Gateway House, Exchange Tower and similarly a small team is based within the Planning Inspectorate Offices at Temple Quay House, Bristol.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister also owns Burlington House in London, Sheffield House in Stevenage, West Point in Manchester and a building at Little Rissington.
	(ii) In relation to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Executive Agencies, the Fire Services College occupies buildings at Moreton in Marsh and the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre is located in Westminster. The Planning Inspectorate occupies Temple Quay House, Bristol.
	(b) Number of staff working from each building
	(i) Figures are based on staff with an entry on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister personnel database, but exclude staff on temporary leave of absence from the office, eg maternity leave, staff working in the Regional Coordination Unit and staff working in the Executive agencies which are recorded as follows. Figures for staff are likely to differ from those published elsewhere as they have been produced on a different basis. All figures are shown as actual number of staff.
	Figures as at 30 October 2005 are as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Ashdown House Victoria 329 
			 Eland House, Victoria 1,368 
			 Hempstead House 95 
			 Glossop 3 
			 Building 3 Garston 13 
			 Marchington 49 
			 Fire Experimental Unit, Moreton-in-Marsh 8 
			 Admiralty House, 26 Whitehall 153 
			 Allington Towers, Victoria 143 
			 Ashdown House, Hastings 40 
			 Exchange Tower, London 13 
			 Temple Quay House, Bristol 29 
		
	
	Figures are not available for Little Rissington, Burlington House, Sheffield House, Stevenage or West Point, Manchester as these buildings are not occupied by ODPM staff.
	(ii) Figures for staff in buildings occupied by the Executive agencies are only available as full-time equivalents and this will almost certainly be an underestimate of the number of individuals employed. Figures include agency staff and contractors and may differ from figures published elsewhere using different definitions.
	Figures as at 30 June 2005 are as follows:
	
		
			  Full-time equivalents 
		
		
			 Fire Service College 296.2 
			 Planning Inspectorate 821.14 
			 Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre 53.3 
		
	
	(c) Management of the buildings
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister centrally collects information relating to the Sustainable Development in Government targets for each and publicly reports on this. This can be viewed at http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/delivery/integrating/estate/estate.htm. No other information is retained centrally.
	This answer does not include buildings occupied by Government offices, who carry out functions on behalf of 10 Government Departments.

Departmental Spending

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much funding was allocated by his Department to Milton Keynes for (a) capital projects and (b) revenue funding in each of the last five years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) was established following the Machinery of Government changes on 29 May 2002. The following table sets out payments made to Milton Keynes since 2002–03. For earlier years, the table shows the amount paid by ODPM's predecessor Departments from programmes which are now administered by ODPM.
	
		Funding £ million
		
			  Capital Revenue 
		
		
			 2000–01 0.012 131.448 
			 2001–02 14.050 132.734 
			 2002–03 32.200 138.753 
			 2003–04 26.455 162.572 
			 2004–05 53.473 173.529 
			 Total 126.190 739.036

Local Government Finance

Greg Pope: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the percentage change in central government funding to Hyndburn borough council has been in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: The percentage change in central government funding to Hyndburn council in each of the last five years for which data are available is shown in the table as follows.
	
		
			  Change in funding on previous year (%) 
		
		
			 1999–2000 2.9 
			 2000–01 4.7 
			 2001–02 8.2 
			 2002–03 12.7 
			 2003–04 13.7 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Central government funding is defined here as the sum of Specific grants inside Aggregate External Finance (AEF) and Formula grant (Revenue Support Grant, Redistributed business rates and Police Grant). Specific grants inside AEF are those revenue grants paid for councils' core services (such as waste collection), excluding funding for local authorities' housing management.
	2. Comparisons across years may not be valid due to changing local authority responsibilities.
	3. The information provided excludes capital funding and funding for local authorities' housing management responsibilities.
	4. The information excludes those grant programmes, such as European funding, where authorities are simply one of the recipients of funding paid towards an area.
	Source:
	ODPM Revenue Outturn (RO) returns—RS data

Planning

Steve Webb: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister in what circumstances a local councillor living in the ward that he represents may make representations to his local authority about a planning application relating to that ward; and by what means such a councillor may represent his community's interests where he himself is directly affected also by the application.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 7 November 2005
	I refer the hon. Member to the 'Adjournment debate: Roll of Local Councillors in the Planning System '; that took place on 8 November 2005, Official Report, columns 65–72WH.

Bed Numbers

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the likely effects of the change in bed numbers planned in West Hertfordshire Hospital Trust Investing in Your Health Plan on the standard of healthcare for the people of Hemel Hempstead; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: No assessment has been made of any likely effects of the change in bed numbers planned in West Hertfordshire Hospital Trust's "Investing in Your Health" plan. The Department's capacity planning focuses on activity rather than bed numbers. It is for the national health service locally to ensure there is suitable provision of beds in order to deliver this.

Dentistry

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many applications to extend dental school training places were submitted to her Department by 28 September; how many were applications for (a) establishing new dental schools and (b) expanding existing dental schools; which organisations submitted applications; and when she expects the joint implementation group to reach conclusions on the business cases submitted.

Rosie Winterton: Six applications have been received from universities that do not currently have dental schools and eight from universities wishing to expand their dental schools. We do not consider it appropriate to release the name of these universities while competition is still under way. The joint implementation group will put its recommendations to the board of the Higher Education Funding Council for England to consider at its meeting on 26 January.

Influenza

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to vaccinate poultry handlers against (a) seasonal influenza and (b) influenza of subtype A/H5N1.

Caroline Flint: There are no plans to vaccinate poultry workers against seasonal influenza in the absence of an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). When an outbreak of HPAI is confirmed, or in the case of heightened risk of an outbreak in poultry, poultry workers on the infected farm, together with vets, contractors and other people engaged in disease control activities, will be offered seasonal influenza vaccine, plus anti-viral therapy, within 24 to 48 hours of disease confirmation.
	There is currently no vaccine against influenza of subtype A/H5N1. Manufacturers have been asked to tender for a contract to supply a limited amount of vaccine against the H5N1 strain of avian influenza currently circulating in South East Asia. This vaccine could offer some protection against an H5N1 flu strain.
	If an outbreak occurs or is deemed likely, then we will make the vaccine available for those at high risk of infection through occupational exposure to diseased birds.

Influenza

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health over what time period the contracts agreed by her Department with seasonal influenza vaccine manufacturers have effect; with which influenza vaccine manufacturer such contracts have been agreed; and when each was agreed.

Caroline Flint: The Department does not place contracts with manufacturers but negotiates with manufacturers for United Kingdom influenza vaccine supply. General practitioner practices make their own contractual arrangements with manufacturers for the supply of influenza vaccine.

Influenza

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how soon it is necessary for tamiflu to be administered once someone has been infected with influenza for the treatment to be effective.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 7 November 2005
	Tamiflu is licensed for the treatment of influenza A and B when influenza is circulating and should be administered within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms. Full details of antiviral agents for influenza can be found in annex H of the "UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan", which is available in the Library.

NHS Ambulance Service Trusts (London)

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on (a) administration and (b) management costs by each NHS ambulance service trust in London, expressed (i) as a percentage of their total budget and (ii) as the cost per head of population in areas they cover in the latest year for which figures are available.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested for 2004–05, the latest available year, is shown in the table.
	
		London Ambulance National Health Service Trust
		
			  
		
		
			 Management costs per weighted head of the population (£000) 1.41 
			 Management costs as a percentage of turnover 3.9 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Administration costs are not identified separately so all information given relates to management costs only.
	2. London has one ambulance trust. The population figures for this have been compiled by the primary care trust weighted population figures within the London area.
	3. 'Total budget' has been interpreted as total income (turnover).
	Source:
	Audited summarisation schedules of the named trust.

Primary Care Trusts (London)

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on (a) administration and (b) management costs by each primary care trust in London, expressed (i) as a percentage of their total budget and (ii) as the cost per head of population in areas they cover in the last year for which figures are available.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested for 2004–05, the latest available year, is shown in the table.
	
		Primary care trusts (PCTs) in the London area
		
			  Management costs (£000) Management costs per weighted head of population (£) Management costs as a percentage of net operating costs 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 3,744 18.97 1.9 
			 Barnet 7,957 26.07 2.0 
			 Bexley Care Trust 2,926 14.99 1.2 
			 Brent Teaching 11,273 42.80 3.0 
			 Bromley 4,931 18.07 1.4 
			 Camden 7,399 27.99 2.0 
			 City and Hackney Teaching 5,708 18.48 1.7 
			 Croydon 5,703 17.63 1.5 
			 Ealing 5,985 17.90 1.5 
			 Enfield 4,710 17.51 1.5 
			 Greenwich Teaching 3,374 13.65 1.1 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 3,997 23.14 1.7 
			 Haringey Teaching 5,296 19.43 1.7 
			 Harrow 3,932 21.25 1.7 
			 Havering 5,205 22.33 1.9 
			 Hillingdon 2,590 10.99 0.9 
			 Hounslow 5,168 23.92 1.7 
			 Islington 5,176 20.97 1.7 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 6,979 35.96 2.4 
			 Kingston 3,850 26.96 2.1 
			 Lambeth 6,752 20.19 1.4 
			 Lewisham 5,854 20.35 1.7 
			 Newham 5,978 17.86 1.7 
			 Redbridge 4,406 19.69 1.7 
			 Richmond and Twickenham 3,459 23.31 1.6 
			 Southwark 6,169 20.12 1.7 
			 Sutton and Merton 9,828 29.43 2.3 
			 Tower Hamlets 4,556 15.64 1.4 
			 Waltham Forest 4,329 17.31 1.5 
			 Wandsworth 7,166 26.35 2.0 
			 Westminster 6,598 30.27 1.9 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Administration costs are not identified separately so all information given relates to management costs only.
	2. 'Total budget' has been interpreted as net operating costs for PCTs.
	Source:
	Audited summarisation schedules and weighted population figures of the named PCTs.

Smoking

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her most recent estimate is of the proportion of pubs which will fall into the category of preparing and serving food for the purposes of the ban on smoking in enclosed public places; and what estimate she has made of the percentage of pubs which will discontinue serving food as a result of the proposals contained within the Health Bill.

Caroline Flint: In the White Paper, "Choosing Health", we estimated that some 10 per cent. to 30 per cent. of pubs would fall into the category of preparing and serving food. Two separate nationwide estimates have been produced, one by Action on Smoking and Health of 29 per cent. and one by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) of 19 per cent. The percentage of pubs that might discontinue serving food will depend on the final content of the regulations that the Bill provides for. Until the regulations are finalised it will not be possible to estimate meaningfully how many pubs might choose to allow smoking rather than serve food.

Abandoned Vehicles

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many abandoned vehicles were crushed in England in the past 12 months for which figures are available.

Ben Bradshaw: The most recent data available is for the year 2003–04 when 221,400 abandoned vehicles were removed and destroyed by local authorities.

EU Decision 2005/745/EC

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in what circumstances poultry industry events will be authorised based on a veterinary risk assessment specific to that event, as permitted under Decision 2005/745/EC.

Ben Bradshaw: My Department, on veterinary advice, has carried out a preliminary risk assessment which takes a precautionary approach to the risk of transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza attached to gatherings of birds. This has shown that gathering of specified types of birds may be permitted under certain conditions.
	At present low risk gatherings can be licensed. This means the gathering can only consist of budgerigars, canaries, zebra finches, Bengalese finches and birds classed by fanciers as "British" birds (i.e. captive bred birds of species native to the British Isles, not including pigeons, poultry and waterfowl). The show organiser must agree to meet a number of conditions such as record keeping and biosecurity measures before a licence is granted. Sales from licensed gatherings are not permitted.
	Gatherings of other birds including poultry, waterfowl, pigeons and exotic species are considered to be higher risk. Conditions under which shows of higher risk birds might be permitted to take place are still under consideration. Such gatherings will not be licensed until we are confident that they can take place without undue risk.

Fish Stocks

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government are taking to preserve fish stocks in the North sea.

Ben Bradshaw: The UK Fisheries Departments' response—published in July 2005—to the "Net Benefits" report set out a clear aim for fisheries management in the UK. That aim is to achieve
	"a fishing sector that is sustainable and profitable and supports local communities, managed effectively as an integral part of coherent policies for the marine environment".
	The Department published "Charting a new course" in October which sets out how we will work with our stakeholders in England to achieve this aim.

Food Defences

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Department and its related agencies spent on flood defences in each year since 1997.

Elliot Morley: Defra funds most of the Environment Agency's flood related work and grant aids individual projects undertaken by local authorities and, in low-lying areas, internal drainage boards. The programme to manage risk is driven by these operating authorities; Defra does not build defences, nor direct the authorities on what specific projects to undertake. The following table shows Defra grant and, additionally for local authorities, Supported Capital Expenditure (Revenue) (SCE(R)):
	
		
			   £ million 
			 Environment Agency(14) LAs and IDBs(15) 
		
		
			 1997–98 287.9 4.9 
			 1998–99 285.6 3.3 
			 1999–2000 294.3 3.5 
			 2000–01 302.1 4.3 
			 2001–02 333.9 6.5 
			 2002–03 341.5 13.7 
			 2003–04 385.7 8.6 
			 2004–05 425.5 9.2 
		
	
	(14) Expenditure on defences against flooding from rivers and the sea; excludes flood warning.
	(15) Defra capital grant and SCE(R) to local authorities and internal drainage boards.
	A significant sum is also provided in Defra grant and SCE(R)) to local authorities for projects to manage risk from coastal erosion; these also often provide benefits in terms of risk of flooding from the sea but have not been included in the above figures. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister provides further support to local authorities through its Revenue Support Grant mechanism.

Fruit Growing

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much fruit was grown in England in the last period for which figures are available, broken down by type; and how much was destined for (a) export, broken down by country, and (b) the domestic market in each case.

Ben Bradshaw: Production data from 2004 for fruit produced in England and Wales and the UK are summarised in table 1; production data are not available for England only. Information on exports taken from Customs relate only to exports from the UK rather than from England only so are shown against UK production figures. This shows the split of production between exports and produce available for the domestic market.
	More detailed information on the destination countries for fruit exports as recorded in the overseas trade statistics are shown in table 2.
	
		Table 1: Production and export data for fruit for 2004 Thousand tonnes
		
			 2004 data England and Wales UK 
		
		
			 Apples   
			 Home Production Marketed 137.6 172.4 
			 Exports — 17.7 
			 Available for domestic market — 154.7 
			
			 Pears   
			 Home Production Marketed 22.7 22.7 
			 Exports — 2.4 
			 Available for domestic market — 20.3 
			
			 Plums   
			 Home Production Marketed 13.6 13.6 
			 Exports — 1.0 
			 Available for domestic market — 12.6 
			
			 Cherries   
			 Home Production Marketed 1.0 1.0 
			 Exports — 0.2 
			 Available for domestic market — 0.8 
			
			 Strawberries   
			 Home Production Marketed 41.2 50.2 
			 Exports — 0.2 
			 Available for domestic market — 50.0 
			
			 Raspberries   
			 Home Production Marketed 6.6 9.1 
			 Exports — 0.0 
			 Available for domestic market — 9.1 
			 Blackcurrants   
			 Home Production Marketed 17.3 19.3 
			 Exports — 0.0 
			 Available for domestic market — 19.3 
			
			 Other soft fruit   
			 Home Production Marketed 4.3 5.1 
			 Exports — 0.2 
			 Available for domestic market — 4.9 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Includes re-exports
	2. Calculated as home production marketed less exports
	
		Table 2: UK exports of fruit for 2004
		
			 Description Tonnes 
		
		
			 Apples  
			 Irish Republic 10,794 
			 Netherlands 3,989 
			 Germany 1,462 
			 Belgium 1,117 
			 France 316 
			 Other 45 
			 Apples total 17,724 
			   
			 Plums  
			 Irish Republic 615 
			 Netherlands 360 
			 Other 8 
			 Plums total 983 
			   
			 Cherries  
			 Irish Republic 116 
			 Netherlands 33 
			 Germany 31 
			 Other 33 
			 Cherries total 213 
			   
			 Pears  
			 Irish Republic 1,777 
			 Netherlands 305 
			 Belgium 198 
			 Other 106 
			 Pears total 2,387 
			   
			 Other soft fruits  
			 Barbados 70 
			 Spain 39 
			 Cayman Islands 14 
			 Dubai 14 
			 Other 48 
			 Other soft fruits total 157 
			   
			 Raspberries  
			 Hungary 21 
			 Irish Republic 17 
			 Other 0 
			 Raspberries total 38 
			   
			 Strawberries  
			 Irish Republic 159 
			 Hungary 13 
			 Other 6 
			 Strawberries total 177 
			   
			 Grand total 21,678

G8 Summit (Gleneagles)

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will (a) place in the Library and (b) post on the departmental website papers submitted by (i) the United Kingdom, (ii) other national delegations and (iii) international organisations to the meeting convened by the United Kingdom presidency of the G8 to follow up the proposals from Gleneagles on climate change, held in London on 1 and 2 November.

Elliot Morley: There were no official papers submitted by the UK Government on the follow up to the 1 November Meeting of the Dialogue on Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development. The meeting was an informal process aimed at sharing ideas on how to implement the plan of action and tackle the problems of climate change, clean energy and sustainable development between countries. A set of draft conclusions on how the UK Government viewed the dialogue meeting can be found on the No. 10 website.

Intensive Chicken Farms

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effects of intensive chicken rearing farms on those living nearby; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: Local authorities, as part of their local air quality management duties under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 are required to assess the effects of any local emission source against health-based national objectives for seven airborne pollutants. Local authority assessments are ongoing but, to date, no local authorities have identified the need to declare an air quality management area in the vicinity of intensive chicken rearing farms.
	It is the duty of the local authority under section 79 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to take reasonable steps to investigate complaints of "any dust, steam, smell or other effluvia arising on industrial, trade or business premises and being prejudicial to health or a nuisance". If the investigating environmental health practitioner is satisfied that a statutory nuisance is present, the local authority must serve an abatement notice requiring that the activity causing the nuisance cease or is restricted. Those against whom the abatement notice has been served will have 21 days in which to appeal against the notice in the local magistrates court. If no appeal is made, or if the appeal is unsuccessful, the abatement notice will remain in force. The fine for non-compliance to an abatement notice is a maximum of £20,000 for industrial, trade or business premises upon summary conviction.
	Under section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 complainants can take private action through the local magistrates court in order to deal with odour nuisance. If such a case were successful, the court would order an abatement of the nuisance and may award costs to the complainant, although this is not a requirement.
	Intensive livestock units will be subject to environmental regulation for the first time under the integrated pollution prevention and control ('IPPC') regime. IPPC will ensure that the environmental and health impacts of poultry farms housing more than 40,000 birds is assessed and minimised. The IPPC regime will also help to ensure a common basis for the prevention and control of pollution from intensive livestock units across Europe. The application window for intensive livestock units is from 1 November 2006 to January 2007.

M3

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the daily number of vehicles which will use (a) junction 6 and (b) junction 7 of the M3 motorway in (i) five years, (ii) 10 years and (iii) 15 years, based on (A) current house building plans and (B) the South East of England Assembly plans for increased house building.

Stephen Ladyman: No recent estimates have been made of the daily numbers of vehicles using junctions 6 and 7 of the M3 in the future. However, at the public local inquiry, held earlier this year, into the Basingstoke and Deane Local Plan Review, the Highways Agency concluded that, in 2016, the peak flow between junctions 6 and 7 would be around 5,400 vehicles per hour in either direction.
	Traffic flows on the M3 between junctions 6 and 7 based on the South East of England Regional Assembly's current proposals for house building will depend upon the future location of housing and other factors such as the future regional transport strategy, all of which are subject to ongoing discussion between the Assembly and regional stakeholders. The Highways Agency is continuing to contribute to deliberations on the draft South East Plan.

Safety Cameras

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what arrangements are made for using the revenue raised from speed cameras.

Stephen Ladyman: Revenue raised from speed cameras can be used to fund safety cameras operating within the National Safety Camera Programme. In order to participate in the "netting off' arrangement, partnerships must comply with the strict criteria set out in the "Handbook of Rules and Guidance for the National Safety Camera Programme for England and Wales for 2005–06", which is published on the DfT website.
	"Netting-off" means that the costs associated with the deployment and operation of safety cameras and the detection and enforcement of offences detected by cameras can be reclaimed from the receipts generated by the fines. The receipts are passed to the Department for Transport (DfT) and DfT reimburses the safety camera partnerships for approved expenditure incurred.
	Any surplus fine revenue is paid to the Consolidated Fund at HM Treasury.
	Fine revenue from cameras operating outside of the National Safety Camera Programme is passed directly to the Treasury.

Parachute Regiment (Prosecutions)

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Solicitor-General whether the Attorney-General was consulted by the Army Prosecution Authority before the prosecution of the seven recently acquitted members of the Parachute Regiment took place; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The Army Prosecuting Authority took the decision that there should be prosecutions in this case. As three of the accused were no longer serving soldiers it was not possible to prosecute them by court martial without the express consent of the Attorney-General, in accordance with section 132A of the Army Act 1955. The APA sought the Attorney-General's views on the appropriate jurisdiction and his consent to prosecute those three soldiers advising that they considered that there was a realistic prospect of conviction against all the accused on a joint charge of murder and a second charge of violent disorder.
	The Attorney-General accepted the advice that there was sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and granted his consent to the prosecution of the three soldiers as required. He did not provide advice on the case.

Pirate Radio Stations

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful prosecutions for the unauthorised transmission of radio signals there have been in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of pirate radio stations broadcasting within (a) London and (b) the UK;
	(3)  what discussions he has had with Ofcom on reducing the number of pirate radio stations in operation.

Alun Michael: The matter raised is the responsibility of the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Ofcom is the independent regulator for the communications sector, deriving its main powers and duties directly from statute rather than by delegation from the Secretary of State, and accountable to Parliament in its own right. Accordingly, my officials have asked the Chief Executive of Ofcom to respond directly to the hon. Member and to send me a copy of his response. Copies of the Chief Executive's letter will also be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Commonwealth Development Corporation

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the rate of return was of former Commonwealth Development Corporation Investments in the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa in each year since 1997.

Hilary Benn: Details of the rates of return on the Commonwealth Development Corporation's (CDC)s investments in Sub-Saharan Africa in each year between 1999 and 2004 are shown in the table. The CDC did not hold any investments in the Middle East during this period. Data is only available on a consistent basis from 1999 when the CDC became a public limited company.
	
		Sub-Saharan Africa
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 1999 11.4 
			 2000 (3.5) 
			 2001 (8.0) 
			 2002 14.3 
			 2003 23.2 
			 2004 19.3 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures in brackets represent a negative return.

Commonwealth Development Corporation

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what profits the Commonwealth Development Corporation made on investments in (a) Asia, (b) South America, (c) the Middle East and (d) Africa in each year since 1997.

Hilary Benn: Details of the profits the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) made on its investments in Asia, South America and Africa in each year between 1999 and 2004 are shown in the following table. The CDC did not hold any investments in the Middle East during this period. Data is only available on a consistent basis from 1999 when the CDC became a public limited company.
	
		
			$ million 
			  Asia Americas Africa 
		
		
			 1999 27.5 25.5 38.6 
			 2000 7.2 (13.0) (12.6) 
			 2001 (5.1) (54.4) (19.8) 
			 2002 33.3 (2.2) 29.8 
			 2003 58.6 (41.9) 44.1 
			 2004 58.5 32.0 60.7 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures in brackets represent a loss

Forestry

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support the UK has made available in each of the last 10 years to help developing countries with forestry programmes and re-forestation projects; and what proportion of the total international development budget that figure represented in each year.

Hilary Benn: The following table gives DFID's expenditure on forestry for the 10 year period from 1995–96 to 2004–05. It also gives DFID's expenditure on forestry as a percentage of expenditure on bilateral aid and as a percentage of total DFID expenditure on development.
	DFID also makes contributions to multilateral institutions some of whose funding will also help developing countries with forestry programmes and reforestation projects.
	
		DFID expenditure on forestry: 1995–96 to 2004–05 £000
		
			  Total forestry spending Total GPEX on Bilateral Aid Total GPEX on Development Forestry as percentage of total on Bilateral Aid Forestry as percentage of total on Development 
		
		
			 1995–96 21,705 1,418,381 2,634,465 1.53 0.82 
			 1996–97 20,823 1,281,571 2,414,793 1.62 0.86 
			 1997–98 15,162 1,438,684 2,529,815 1.05 0.60 
			 1998–99 13,305 1,379,719 2,656,802 0.96 0.50 
			 1999–2000 17,941 1,660,868 2,977,597 1.08 0.60 
			 2000–01 19,865 1,757,823 3,231,282 1.13 0.61 
			 2001–02 17,321 1,990,607 3,477,460 0.87 0.50 
			 2002–03 18,885 2,516,333 4,146,992 0.75 0.46 
			 2003–04 18,462 2,597,740 4,712,900 0.71 0.39 
			 2004–05 19,342 2,800,467 4,822,795 0.69 0.40 
		
	
	Note:
	GPEX=Total Gross Public Expenditure

Online Gambling

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what measures are being taken to ensure that children do not undertake online gambling.

Richard Caborn: Under the current legislation British licensed operators are permitted to offer betting on-line. These operators are subject to the same regulation as bricks and mortar bookmakers, including the existing prohibitions and penalties relating to underage betting. A bookmaker in breach of these prohibitions is a risk of both losing his licence and prosecution. On-line casinos, however, cannot be based in Great Britain under existing legislation. As a result they currently operate off-shore and beyond British jurisdiction. This was one of the major reasons why the Government decided to introduce the Gambling Act 2005.
	The protection of children from being harmed or exploited by gambling is one of the key objectives of the Gambling Act, and it contains a package of measures aimed at preventing children from gambling.
	Most importantly the Act provides a new regulatory regime for on-line gambling. For the first time on-line casino operators will be able to be licensed in this country, and as such subject to strict licence conditions.
	These conditions will include explicit provisions on social responsibility, including 'know your customer' requirements and the use, by on-line gambling operators, of age verification systems.
	These conditions will be enforced by the new Gambling Commission, which came into existence in October this year, with robust powers to investigate and ultimately withdraw licences and prosecute those in breach of the law. The Gambling Commission will be proactive in this regard, and the Act allows the Commission or the police to use children to test the robustness of a gambling operator's age verification systems.
	Under the Gambling Act it will be an offence for a licensed on-line operator to invite or permit a child or young person to participate in on-line gambling, including all casino gambling. Some very limited exceptions allow 16 to 18-year-olds to take part in on-line football pools or purchase a lottery ticket. It will also be an offence for anyone in the UK to bring gambling advertising to the attention of a person under the age of 18 years. Furthermore the Act will prevent any on-line operator based in a territory outside the European Economic Area from advertising in the UK, unless that territory has be specified by the Secretary of State in regulation. The Government believe that this will prevent UK citizens from being exposed to a large number of operators based in territories which do not offer the same protections to children and young people.
	The Act also introduces several new provisions designed to prevent children and young people from gambling, including providing that a young person of 16–17 years old will him/herself commit an offence if he/she gambles. In addition, a licensed gambling operator who, for whatever reason, permits a person under the age of 18 to gamble will have to return the stake gambled to that child or young person. Operators, however, will have no rights to reclaim any winnings awarded. While we expect that the British licensed industry will readily maintain the very highest standards, we believe that this will act as a further incentive to operators to ensure that their age verification systems are robust.
	The Gambling Act will be fully implemented in September 2007. In the meantime my Department is working closely with the international gambling industry to promote socially responsible practices now. The Remote Gambling Association, the trade association for remote gambling operators, will very shortly make compliance with their Social Responsibility Code of Practice a condition of membership. This Code includes specific conditions relating to age verification. The Gambling Commission will also active push for improvements in age verification systems and will work closely with software developers, gambling operators and the banking sector to do so. My Department is also looking at building on international links with regulators in other jurisdictions to work across borders to protect our citizens from exploitation from unscrupulous remote gambling operators.
	The protection of children and young people from harm from gambling is key priority for my Department. We remain dedicated to doing all we can under the existing legislation in preparation for the modern, more robust regime, the Gambling Act will introduce.

Television Licences

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much revenue the fines from unpaid television licences generated in the last year for which figures are available; and what happens to the revenue.

James Purnell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 18 October 2005, Official Report, columns 845–46W.

Armed Services

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to investigate ways in which a broader pool of post-18 year-old recruits to the armed services might be attracted.

Don Touhig: Recruit marketing and advertising is both strategic and tactical and aimed at all ages within the target audience, but focused where necessary. Examples of initiatives specifically aimed at those aged 18 and over include:
	Graduate Recruitment Seminars
	University Bursaries
	Medical Cadetships
	Defence Training Undergraduate Scheme—specifically aimed at technical students
	Leadership and Development courses at Universities
	Sponsorship of students at Colleges of Further Education
	Golden Helios for Army Operational Pinch Point trades, e.g. Royal Engineers, Royal Logistics Corps, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Intelligence Corps and Amy Medical Services
	Recruiting visits by specialist teams to universities
	Others (e.g. Jobcentre Plus workshops, Adult Look at Life Courses, Careers Exhibitions).

Armed Services

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his definition of the target recruit population for the armed services is; and what groups or individuals are excluded.

Don Touhig: Armed forces employment is open to British, Commonwealth, and Republic of Ireland citizens providing they meet the required entry eligibility standards. While marketing is aimed at those of pre-eligible age, eligibles, and parents/gatekeepers, the bulk of recruit marketing is targeted at the 16–24 age group.
	Employment in cap-badged posts in the Royal Marines General Service, the Household Cavalry and Royal Armoured Corps, the Infantry, and the Royal Air Force Regiment are closed to women for reasons of combat effectiveness.
	The armed forces also remains closed to those with unspent criminal convictions.

Armed Services

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) casualty notification officers and (b) casualty visiting officers are employed by the Army; what the course content of induction training for these posts is; and what the duration of training is for each.

Don Touhig: All brigade headquarters maintain a roster of available officers for Casualty Notification Officers and Visiting Officers duties. Numbers on the rosters vary but each headquarters will normally have about 50 Officers listed to carry out these duties.
	Seminars/Study days are conducted by all brigade headquarters on a regular basis. They comprise of presentations and discussions on: casualty administrative procedures; repatriation; funerals; pensions; Army Welfare Service; understanding bereavement (but not counselling); role of Army chaplains; and the investigation process.
	The Army is developing a standardised training package covering all relevant issues which will be available to all headquarters and units by the end of March 2006.

Departmental Telephone Lines

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how the money that is raised from his Department's 0870 prefix contact telephone number is spent.

Don Touhig: The use of 0870 numbers in the Ministry of Defence is determined at the local level in accordance with individual business requirements. Records of 0870 numbers and the revenue received from them is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Disablement Benefits

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the implications for his Department's policy on provision of disablement pensions for ex-servicemen and medical auxiliaries of the decision in the case of Daniel Martin at the Pension Appeal Tribunal on 31 October.

Don Touhig: The Ministry of Defence's policy on the provision of war disablement pensions to former members of the armed forces is unchanged. Awards will continue to be made where evidence of disablement is shown and where that disablement is due to, or aggravated by, service.

Future Aircraft Carriers

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons revised in-service dates of 2013 and 2016 for the two Future Aircraft Carriers were published on the Department's website on 19 September; and why this information was subsequently removed.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 7 November 2005
	The dates were published on the website in error. These dates were removed as the in-service dates (ISDs) for the Future Aircraft Carriers will only be set following the main investment decision and once they have been approved by Ministers. This decision has not yet been taken, and will only be taken when we know with confidence the risks involved in building the carriers, when we have a proper understanding of the costs involved and the implications in terms of the wider interface with other projects, and for the shipbuilding industry.

RAF Recruitment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many new recruits there have been to the Royal Air Force on average in each of the last 10 years.

Don Touhig: The information requested is set out in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year Officers Other ranks RAF total 
		
		
			 1995–96 280 2,150 2,420 
			 1996–97 320 2,360 2,680 
			 1997–98 400 3,130 3,530 
			 1998–99 430 3,820 4,250 
			 1999–2000 480 3,610 4,100 
			 2000–01 440 3,190 3,630 
			 2001–02 450 3,340 3,780 
			 2002–03 460 3,990 4,450 
			 2003–04 520 3,640 4,160 
			 2004–05 300 1,880 2,180 
			 
			 10 year average 410 3,110 3,520 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures are for UK regular forces (including both trained and untrained personnel), and therefore exclude full-time reserve service personnel and mobilised reservists.

Research and Development

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans his Department has for research and development in new defence technologies.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 18 October 2005
	Continued investment in science and technology will remain critical if we are to develop and sustain effective capabilities in the face of new and emerging threats. Technical excellence is fundamental to providing the major enabling support to front-line operations and to underpin the competitiveness of our national defence industry.
	The Defence Science and Technology Board will ensure that we get the right investment balance between sustaining in-house expertise and developing new technology in our supplier base. A well-structured policy of collaboration between MOD, industry and academia allows us to focus on commonly-identified technology development areas, improves risk reduction and maximises our ability to incorporate world class technologies developed in the UK into the equipment we buy.
	We have launched four Defence Technology Centres in areas of high priority for MOD and industry. They are jointly funded by MOD, industry and academia to carry out research at the basic science level. This is then exploited by each partner for their own purposes.
	Further information has been published in "Delivering Security in a Changing World", the Defence White Paper of 2003 (Cm 6269) and in the MOD Departmental Plan 2005–09 under Future Capabilities chapter. Copies of these are in the Library and can be found on the MOD internet site at www.mod.uk.

Adult Education

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  which further education colleges in West Yorkshire will receive (a) a decrease and (b) an increase in their funding for adult education, not including for basic skills courses, in 2005–06 compared to 2004–05;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the level of funding provided by the Learning and Skills Council to (a) Shipley College and (b) other further education colleges in West Yorkshire to meet the non-basic skills needs of adults and employers in the locality; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  when each further education college in West Yorkshire was informed of its funding allocation for 2005–06.

Bill Rammell: The Government's Skills Strategy, reaffirmed in the White Paper published on the 22 March, sets clear priorities for public funding to support the drive to ensure that employers have the skills they need to be successful, and individuals have the skills they need to be employable and personally fulfilled. Funding for Further Education (FE) increased by 4.4 per cent. in 2005/06. Funding for non-vocational learning opportunities for adults, delivered mainly through local authority adult education services, has also increased. In 2004/05 we provided over £207 million to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in support of this learning. This has risen to £210 million in 2005/06. This funding will enable colleges and other providers to deliver a wide range of learning opportunities to meet the needs of adults in local communities but those who are able to do so will need to pay higher fees in the future. I set out the Government's priorities for the learning and skills sector and the impact on funding in 2006–07 and 2007–08 on the 21 October and full details can be found in "Priorities for Success" on the LSC's website.
	The Department allocates funds for education and training in the post-16 learning and skills sector, including adult education, to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The LSC was established in 2001 bringing the planning and funding of post-16 education together under one body. My Department does not hold details of funding figures for FE colleges in West Yorkshire. As the timing and level of funding allocations in local areas relates to the LSC's operational responsibilities, the LSC's Chief Executive, Mark Haysom, has written to the hon. Member with the information requested. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

Apprenticeships

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reason the costs of the provider contracts for the apprenticeships introduced by her Department were higher than expected; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Hope: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning (Bill Rammell) on 12 October 2005, Official Report, column 528W.

Education Initiatives

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the Vocational Learning Diploma to be introduced in 2008.

Phil Hope: There will be five lines of specialised diplomas available for teaching from September 2008: in ICT; Health and Social Care; Engineering; Creative and Media; and Construction and the Built Environment. A further five lines will be available from September 2009: in Land Based and Environmental; Manufacturing; Hair and Beauty; Business Administration; and Finance and Hospitality and Catering. The final four lines will be available from September 2010: in Public Services; Sport and Leisure; Retail; and Travel and Tourism.
	We have set up multi-agency partnerships, led by Sector Skills Councils, to specify the content of the diplomas within their line of learning. Awarding bodies will subsequently develop the qualification on the basis of this. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has been providing advice on the overarching design of the diplomas. My right hon. Friend will announce further details shortly.

Education Initiatives

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the operation of the school improvement partner scheme.

Jacqui Smith: The role of School Improvement Partners (SIPs) who are mostly headteachers is to challenge and support schools. Their work forms part of the new accountability and support arrangements called the New Relationship with Schools. SIPs will be searching and constructive about the key issues that each school faces without imposing unnecessary bureaucratic burdens. For anybody wishing to become a SIP, there is a demanding national assessment and accreditation process. The process started in the spring and has so far accredited 243 people.
	Schools and local authorities are responding positively to becoming involved in the SIP programme. We now have SIPs allocated to secondary schools in 27 local authorities. SIPs will be allocated to the rest of secondary schools in two further waves in April and September 2006. There is a pilot of SIPs in primary schools in six local authorities, to be followed by a phased national roll-out. We are also trialling school improvement partners in special schools in seven local authorities before deciding on a wider roll-out. At the same time, we are developing national arrangements to make sure SIPs are well managed and well supported, and to assure the quality of their work.

Education White Paper

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what account she took of recent findings on the effects of increased choice in a school system on social segregation in drawing up her proposals in the recent White Paper; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: In drawing up the proposals in the recent White Paper the Secretary of State took account of the relevant issues and discussions in the current academic literature on school choice and social segregation.
	Our White Paper "Higher Standards, Better Schools For All—More choice for parents and pupils" outlines our proposals to extend choice and open up access to schools for more parents, underpinned by a fair admissions system. These proposals will reduce social segregation.
	There are a number of approaches that admission authorities can adopt to ensure fair access for children. Some schools use random allocation, while others use banding. The White Paper proposes making it easier to introduce pupil banding. This provides a means of ensuring that a school's intake is representative of the full ability range of either applicants for a particular school, of children in the area as a whole, or of the national ability profile—depending on the type of banding adopted.
	Furthermore, all proposals for new schools must set out their proposed admission arrangements, and indicate how these will promote community and social integration and choice. Successful schools will also be allowed to expand if they can show their admission arrangements are in line with the School Admissions code of practice, which recommends that admission arrangements should be, as far as possible, inclusive of all elements of the local community.
	We also propose to extend entitlement to free transport for disadvantaged children, so that parental choice is not restricted by concerns about the cost and availability of transport.

Employment Programmes

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills to how many regions the entitlement to a platform of employability skills has been extended.

Phil Hope: The second skills White Paper, "Skills: Getting on in business, getting on at work", published in March 2005, reaffirmed our commitment to the Level 2 entitlement. We undertook to use the experience of the Level 2 trials in the North East and South East in 2004/05 to develop the capacity of the further education sector during 2005/06. The White Paper confirmed that we would expand the availability of fully funded first Level 2 qualifications in all regions, using 2005/06 as a transition year, so that a wide range of colleges and training providers could offer the entitlement nationally from 2006/07.
	2005/06 transition will allow FE providers time to re-shape their programmes before national roll out in 2006/07. This does not imply that some regions can opt out of the Level 2 entitlement during 2005/06. We expect that all regions will deliver an increased volume of first full level 2s in 2005/06; however, we anticipate a marked increase in the delivery and achievement of first full level 2s from 2006/07.

Employment Programmes

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many 16 to 18-year-olds took part in the entry to employment programme in 2004–05; and what assessment has been made of the results.

Jacqui Smith: Entry to Employment (E2E) is the main programme for young people not yet ready to enter an apprenticeship, employment or learning opportunities directly. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) guarantees all young people for whom E2E is appropriate a place on the programme. This is in addition to the commitment that every 16 to 18-year-old can have a place in post-16 education and training.
	The LSC collects data by academic year. In 2003/04, 10,430 left E2E for employment. In 2004/05, 11,226 left E2E for employment. In 2004/05, 43 per cent. of E2E leavers went into a positive destination (jobs, further education or work based learning). This has risen from 35 per cent. in 2003/04. The number of places made available in England in 2004/05 was 49,523. Of these 47,702 were taken up based on provisional 2004/05 data.

Juvenile Learning and Skills

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on roll out of the pilot of the new means of service delivery for juvenile learning and skills.

Phil Hope: New arrangements for delivering learning and skills to offenders were introduced in three development regions, the South West, North West and North East, from 1 August 2005. The new offenders' learning and skills service covers juvenile offenders held in Young Offender Institutions. Action research is being carried out on the new service in order to inform the planned roll-out of the new service across the rest of England from August 2006.
	The new arrangements emphasise early, intense focus on assessing the offender learner's needs, formulating them into an individual learning plan and addressing those needs in a joined-up way as the offender moves through the criminal justice system and into mainstream learning and skills. A new curriculum for offender learners is described in the "Offender's Learning Journey", of which there are separate adult and juvenile versions. (See http://www.dfes.gov.uk/offenderlearning/uploads/docs/05%200111% 20Juvenile%20OLJ%20v0.4.doc) This more integrated service is particularly important for juvenile offenders, many of whom will continue their education on release.
	The new service is planned and funded by the Learning and Skills Council, working in close collaboration with the National Offender Management Service and, in the case of juvenile offenders, with the Youth Justice Board. These close working arrangements will ensure the learning and skills service commissioned meets the needs of the learners and, for those of working age, the needs of employers in the areas within which they will be resettled.

Nursery Places

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Cleethorpes constituency attended nursery in each of the past 10 years; and how many have taken up free nursery places since the policy was introduced.

Beverley Hughes: All four-year-olds have been entitled to a free early education place since 1998 and from April 2004 this entitlement was extended to all three-year-olds. The free entitlement consists of a minimum of five two and a half hour sessions per week for 33 weeks of the year for six terms before statutory school age, which is the term following their fifth birthday.
	Some local authorities may additionally offer subsidised child care places but this information is not collected centrally.
	Figures for January 2005 show that all four-year-old children receive some form of free entitlement. The figure for three-years-olds is 96 per cent. This covers all maintained, private, voluntary and independent providers and represents 535,100 three-year-olds and 568,300 four-year-olds.
	The available information on the number of free nursery education places taken up by three and four-year-olds in Cleethorpes parliamentary constituency area and North East Lincolnshire local authority is shown in the tables.
	For 2005, information for private and voluntary providers is available for North East Lincolnshire but not currently available for Cleethorpes constituency.
	The latest figures on early education places for three and four-year-olds in England were published in Statistical First Release 43/2005 "Provision for children under five years of age in England—January 2005 (final)" in September, which is available on my Department's website www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/
	
		Number of free nursery education places(48) taken up by three and four-year-olds. Local authority North East Lincolnshire Position in January each year
		
			  Three-year-olds 
			  Maintained nursery and primary schools(49) Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers Total three-year-olds 
		
		
			 1997 920 n/a 920 
			 1998 980 n/a 980 
			 1999 1,000 n/a 1,000 
			 2000 1,000 (52)520 1,500 
			 2001 930 (52)550 1,500 
			 2002 940 (52)620 1,600 
			 2003 990 (52)690 1,700 
			 2004 870 (54)730 1,600 
			 2005 900 (54)650 1,500 
		
	
	
		Position in January each year
		
			  Four-year-olds 
			  Maintained nursery and primary schools(50) Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers Total four-year-olds 
		
		
			 1997 n/a n/a (51)2,100 
			 1998 n/a n/a (51)2,000 
			 1999 n/a n/a (51)2,000 
			 2000 n/a n/a (51)2,000 
			 2001 n/a n/a (51)1,900 
			 2002 1,700 (51)230 1,900 
			 2003 1,600 (53)240 1,900 
			 2004 1,700 (55)240 1,900 
			 2005 1,500 (55)220 1,700 
		
	
	n/a=Not available.
	(48) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 as appropriate.
	(49) Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(50) Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(51) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise.
	(52) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise.
	(53) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census supplementary data collection exercise and the Annual Schools' Census.
	(54) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	(55) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	
		Number of free nursery education places(56) taken up by three and four-year-olds. Parliamentary constituency Cleethorpes Position in January each year
		
			  Three-year-olds Four-year-olds 
			  Maintained nursery and primary schools(57) Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers Maintained nursery and primary schools(58) Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers 
		
		
			 2004 310 500 900 150 
			 2005 320 n/a 820 n/a 
		
	
	n/a=Not available.
	(56) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 as appropriate.
	(57) Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(58) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	Changes in pupil figures may arise from changes to the underlying population in the local authority area and other factors. However, my Department does not publish population figures for individual age cohorts at sub-national level because of the unreliability of the underlying population estimates. The Office for National Statistics publish sub-national population estimates in five-year age bands.

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether it is her Department's policy to move away from a knowledge-based culture in science education as set out on page 36 of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's document "Futures: Meeting the Challenge".

Jacqui Smith: The KS4 science programme of study for 2006 developed with input from the scientific community is based on the science process ("how science works") but the amount of factual knowledge defined in the breadth of study section is only slightly less than at present which allows for the development of skills and understanding. The new programme of study moves away from a predominantly knowledge-based approach to one in which the balance between knowledge and process is more even. Skills, knowledge and understanding of the science process ("how science works") usually become meaningful only when they are set in the context of (factual knowledge) about science.

School Meals

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many school children in Cleethorpes constituency receive free school meals, broken down by school.

Jacqui Smith: The data requested is shown in the table.
	
		Maintained primary and secondary schools(65): school meal arrangements(66) January 2005—Cleethorpes parliamentary constituency
		
			 LEA number DfES Establishment Number School name Number on roll Number of pupils taking free school meals(67) Percentage of pupils taking free school meals(67) Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 
		
		
			 812 2000 Allerton Primary School 293 28 9.6 41 14.0 
			 812 2109 William Bancroft Junior School 283 53 18.7 69 24.4 
			 812 2112 Elliston Infants' School 212 39 18.4 53 25.0 
			 812 2113 Queen Mary Avenue Infant School 318 67 21.1 77 24.2 
			 812 2114 Reynolds Junior School 191 19 9.9 30 15.7 
			 813 2116 East Halton Primary School 54 (68)— (68)— 3 5.6 
			 813 2118 Goxhill Primary School 244 15 6.1 15 6.1 
			 812 2124 New Waltham Primary School 272 (68)— (68)— 6 2.2 
			 813 2125 Killingholme Primary School 125 17 13.6 18 14.4 
			 812 2142 Thrunscoe Infants' School 129 19 14.7 23 17.8 
			 812 2145 Enfield (New Waltham) Primary School 140 (68)— (68)— 4 2.9 
			 812 2151 The Leas Junior School 319 6 1.9 10 3.1 
			 812 2153 Thrunscoe Junior School 159 20 12.6 36 22.6 
			 812 2154 Healing Primary School 310 6 1.9 6 1.9 
			 812 2175 Signhills Infants' School 242 5 2.1 5 2.1 
			 812 2176 Signhills Junior School 348 16 4.6 17 4.9 
			 812 2178 Eastfield Junior School 165 25 15.2 35 21.2 
			 812 2179 Eastfield Infants' School 172 18 10.5 29 16.9 
			 812 2181 The Leas Infants' School 196 8 4.1 8 4.1 
			 812 2182 Middlethorpe Primary School 246 5 2.0 16 6.5 
			 812 2183 Reynolds Infants' School 215 12 5.6 13 6.0 
			 812 2184 Elliston Junior School 240 44 18.3 64 26.7 
			 813 2568 Bowmandale Primary School 299 27 9.0 27 9.0 
			 812 2877 Coomb Briggs Primary School 180 5 2.8 8 4.4 
			 812 2939 Humberston Cloverfields Primary School 289 5 1.7 6 2.1 
			 813 2940 Castledyke Primary School 310 63 20.3 84 27.1 
			 812 2943 Bursar Primary School 198 27 13.6 47 23.7 
			 813 3056 John Harrison CofE Primary School 191 9 4.7 10 5.2 
			 813 3057 Barton St. Peter's CofE Primary School 272 37 13.6 43 15.8 
			 812 3059 St. Peter's CofE Primary School 185 36 19.5 68 36.8 
			 812 3060 East Ravendale CofE Primary School 105 4 3.8 5 4.8 
			 812 3065 The Humberston CofE Primary School 303 (68)— (68)— 8 2.6 
			 813 3067 Kirmington CofE Primary School 30 (68)— (68)— 4 13.3 
			 812 3068 Stanford Junior and Infant School 229 5 2.2 9 3.9 
			 812 3072 Stallingborough CofE Primary School 87 3 3.4 3 3.4 
			 813 3078 New Holland Church of England and Methodist Primary School 78 9 11.5 9 11.5 
			 813 3079 Ulceby St Nicholas Church of England Primary School 152 4 2.6 6 3.9 
			 813 3322 Wootton St. Andrew's CofE Primary School 51 0 0.0 0 0.0 
			 812 3514 St. Joseph's RC Primary School 160 14 8.8 18 11.3 
			 812 3516 The Canon Peter Hall CofE Primary School 227 63 27.8 70 30.8 
			 812 4073 The Immingham School 867 87 10.0 158 18.2 
			 812 4078 Tollbar Business and Enterprise College 1,929 73 3.8 90 4.7 
			 812 4084 Healing School, A Specialist Science College 762 31 4.1 33 4.3 
			 812 4086 The Lindsey School and Community Arts College 1,395 85 6.1 169 12.1 
			 812 4092 Humberston Comprehensive School 715 21 2.9 36 5.0 
			 813 4491 Baysgarth School 1,012 112 11.1 131 12.9 
			 812 4503 Matthew Humberstone Church of England School 1,382 236 17.1 279 20.2 
		
	
	(65) Includes middle schools as deemed.
	(66) Includes dually registered and boarding pupils.
	(67) Based upon school level numbers of pupils who had a free school meal on 20 January 2005.
	(68) Less than 3 or a rate based on less than 3.
	Source:
	Annual Schools' Census

Science Teaching

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will publish the syllabus used for the Twentieth Century Science and Science for the Citizen pilots.

Jacqui Smith: A copy of the Twenty-First Century Science pilot specification is available on request from OCR, 9 Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 1PB. This pilot has informed the development of OCR's GCSE Science Suite A, which is available on OCR's website. A copy has been placed in the House of Commons Library. The term "science for the citizen" refers to the approach taken through the new specifications and examinations to develop scientific literacy and does not refer to a particular qualification or pilot.

Under-achievement

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations she has received on tackling the impact of socio-economic status upon educational performance.

Beverley Hughes: The Secretary of State regularly meets individuals and representatives of organisations throughout the education system who share the priorities she set out in her speech to IPPR on 26 July 2005. This detailed the Government's commitment to maintaining a genuinely comprehensive education system—a system that meets the needs of all children, whatever their backgrounds, their preferences or their ability.
	The White Paper "Higher Standards, Better Schools for All" sets out our proposals for ensuring that a good education is available to every child in every community. We look forward to continued representations on how these proposals can improve social mobility as we discuss the White Paper and when we introduce the associated legislation.

Under-achievement

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the provision of extended schooling upon under achievement by children from low socio-economic backgrounds;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the capacity of schools to provide extended schooling;
	(3)  what steps are being taken by her Department to improve the (a) availability and (b) accessibility of extra-curricular activities, including sports for children from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Beverley Hughes: Since 2002 my Department has supported three evaluations of extended schools. The reports of these evaluations have shown that it is likely that extended services accessed through schools generate a range of educational benefits for pupils, families and communities in disadvantaged areas. These include: raised pupil attainment; improved pupil attendance, behaviour and attitudes towards learning; and increased parental involvement in their children's education. Access to extended services at or through schools can reduce barriers to learning through multi-agency working to support vulnerable children and families, help develop learning cultures in deprived communities, and support non-working parents back into work, so reducing child poverty.
	The latest of these reports, of the first year of the evaluation of full service extended schools, was published on 29 September 2005. The evaluation involved schools in areas of disadvantage and shows that there is considerable anecdotal evidence of positive outcomes from extended services accessed through schools. Although this does not yet amount to robust evidence of effectiveness it suggests that there will be longer term and wide-ranging outcome for pupils and families from low socio-economic backgrounds. Furthermore, the schools involved in the evaluation said that the extended schools initiative allowed them to address issues previously beyond their reach, such as drug problems and malnutrition, but which affect their pupils' achievement and other outcomes. This evaluation will continue until 2007 by which time we hope to have more substantial evidence on impacts.
	We know, through a base line survey of extended services in schools published in September 2005, that the vast majority of schools, 95 per cent. of secondary and 87 per cent. of primary schools, are already offering after schools activities or childcare. The extended schools agenda is not about increasing the workload of existing school staff or schools providing all these services directly themselves on the school site. The evaluation of extended schools has shown that when managed properly the provision of extended services could free heads and teachers to concentrate on their core business. Schools are being encouraged to work with existing providers from both the private and voluntary sectors, other children's services and other nearby schools to deliver extended services and to make good use of their expertise and skills.
	A package of support is in place to support schools develop extended services. We have made available £680 million over the period 2006–08 to local authorities and schools. This is additional to the £160 million we have provided to date. This funding can be used flexibly by local authorities and schools to help overcome barriers to developing extended services. The National Remodelling Team has been appointed to work with local authorities and schools to help them develop extended services and in a way that is consistent with school workforce reform.
	By 2010 we want all schools to provide a varied range of study support activities with half of all primary schools and a third of all secondary schools doing so by 2008. Funding for a school's or local authority's study support (out of school hours learning) programme is available through their base budgets, and the School Development Grant. Furthermore, the recently published White Paper: "Higher Standards, Better Schools for All", announced that £335 million has been earmarked for 2007–08 to support the personalised learning agenda, of which study support will form an intrinsic part. Helping children from deprived families is a priority for this funding.
	The Government are also implementing the national school sport strategy. The strategy is delivering an ambitious public service agreement target to increase the percentage of 5–16 year olds who spend a minimum of two hours a week on high quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum to 75 per cent. by 2006 and then 85 per cent. by 2008. The long-term ambition, by 2010, is to offer all children at least four hours of sport every week. This will comprise at least two hours of PE and sport at school and at least an additional 2–3 hours of sport beyond the school day (delivered by a range of school, community and club providers). In the five years to 2008 over £1.5 billion is being invested to implement the strategy. The 2004/05 school sport survey results found that overall, 69 per cent. of pupils were participating in at least two hours of high quality PE and school sport a week. The results were published on 2 September 2005 and copies have been placed in the House Libraries.

Alan John Davies

David Mundell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the detention of Alan John Davies in a Thai jail.

Ian Pearson: We are currently supporting Mr. Davies '; second Royal Pardon Petition. The outcome of clemency pleas is unpredictable. The Thai authorities have assured our embassy in Bangkok that the petition will be considered as quickly as possible. Our staff in Thailand continue to raise Mr. Davies '; case with the Thai authorities at every appropriate opportunity, and visit him regularly to monitor his welfare.

Embassy Closures

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria are used when deciding to close an embassy; and in what ways the criteria applied to (a) Paraguay, (b) Lesotho, (c) Swaziland, (d) Madagascar, (e) Bahamas, (f) Kiribati, (g) Tonga, (h) Vanatu and (i) Timor Leste.

Jack Straw: In deciding the changes to the network I announced on 15 December 2004, which included the closure of these posts, the key factors I took into account in each case were the contributions of the post towards Foreign and Commonwealth Office priorities, including service delivery, the practicality of cover from elsewhere and the potential savings.

Maldives

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meetings ministers have held with representatives of the Maldive Islands Government in respect of Mohamed Nasheed.

Kim Howells: Ministers have not held any meetings with the Government of the Maldives on this subject. The British High Commission in Colombo, accredited to the Maldives, is monitoring Mohamed Nasheed's trial closely. The High Commissioner has raised our concerns about the trial with the Government of the Maldives on several occasions.

Travellers (Advice)

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice to travellers to (a) the United States, (b) Israel and (c) Bali was being issued on the Foreign Office website in September.

Kim Howells: Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice is constantly updated. In September 2005 the travel advice for the United States was updated 28 times, for Israel and the Occupied Territories three times and for Indonesia three times.
	United States
	The travel advice was updated 28 times to reflect changes due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. There were no other amendments other than for this reason.
	Israel and the Occupied Territories
	The travel advice was updated on 6 September to reflect an explosion on 5 September in Gaza City that killed four and injured at least 20 others and an update of the disengagement of settlers from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. The travel advice was updated again on 7 September to reflect the murder of Mousa Arafat, and to advise that the security situation in Gaza may deteriorate further. The travel advice was updated again on 13 September to advise against all but essential travel to Gaza City and against all travel to Gaza City at night, including overnight stays.
	Indonesia
	The travel advice was updated on 6 September with minor amendments including one concerning the Indonesian police campaign against illegal drug use. The travel advice was further amended on 21 September with further information about avian influenza, in particular Ragunan Zoo in Jakarta was closed on 19 September after bird flu was detected in caged birds. The travel advice was updated again on 29 September with details of large public demonstrations that were being planned in Jakarta and other cities in Indonesia to protest against fuel shortages and fuel price rises which were to take effect on 1 October.

West Papua

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to support a UN-sponsored democratic self-determination referendum to be held in West Papua.

Ian Pearson: The UK supports the territorial integrity of Indonesia. We believe the best solution to the internal differences in Papua is to be found through peaceful dialogue between the Government of Indonesia and representatives of the Papuan people, and the implementation of the Special Autonomy Law of 2001. We welcome President Yudhoyono's recent statement that he is committed to a "just, comprehensive and dignified solution", including through "consistent implementation" of Special Autonomy.

Political Guidelines

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what guidelines exist for executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies on making public comments on party political matters.

Jim Murphy: Staff in executive agencies are civil servants, and are therefore required to conduct themselves in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Service Code.
	Staff in non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) are generally not civil servants. However, Cabinet Office guidance on NDPBs requires that they have a staff Code of Conduct, which should include the requirement for staff of public bodies to conduct themselves with impartiality, as well as integrity and honesty.

Call Centres

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many call centres were run by his Department and its agencies in (a) 2003–04, (b) 2004–05 and (c) 2005–06 to date; and how many and what proportion of calls (i) were handled by an adviser, (ii) were received but abandoned and (iii) received an engaged tone in each year.

David Hanson: No call centres were run by the Northern Ireland Office or its Agencies.

Correspondence

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to improve the Department's performance in replying to hon. Members' correspondence.

Peter Hain: Every effort is made to handle all correspondence effectively and efficiently. All correspondence from hon. Members and Peers is handled in accordance with the principles set out in "Handling Correspondence from Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, MEPs and Members of Devolved Assemblies: Guidance for Departments". The same principles apply when handling correspondence from members of the public.
	Information relating to the performance of Departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence is published on an annual basis. The report for 2004 was published on 6 April 2005, Official Report, columns 137–40WS.

Housing

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether (a) the Department and (b) the Housing Executive maintains a (i) mandatory and (ii) voluntary register of landlords of privately rented residential property in Northern Ireland.

David Hanson: The Housing Executive maintains the rent register, which contains prescribed information in relation to registered tenancies under the Rent (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 and a register of the names and addresses of persons who are managers of houses in multiple occupation.

Race Crimes

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland will include in its annual report statistics on the number of (a) reported race crimes, (b) cases prosecuted, (c) cases securing convictions and (d) cases not prosecuted.

David Hanson: The Government take racially motivated crime very seriously. The Racial Equality Strategy, published on 19 July 2005, sets a framework to allow the Government to tackle the issues of racial inequality in Northern Ireland and to eradicate racism and hate crime. In addition, The Criminal Justice (No. 2) (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 made provisions for increased penalties for offences motivated by hostility towards a person's race.
	The Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPS) is currently in the process of developing a recording and monitoring mechanism in cases where, in the judgment of a Public Prosecutor, there was a racial motivation behind offences. Statistics will however not be available for the 2005–06 PPS Annual Report.

Substitute Teachers

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the spending by each education and library board in the Province on substitute teachers in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: The amount spent by each of the education and library boards and grant maintained integrated schools on substitute teachers in the last five years is in the following table.
	
		
			  £ 
			 Board area 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 BELB 6,824,662 7,182,863 8,053,759 8,242,900 7,594,513 
			 NEELB 8,247,465 8,891,204 9,851,452 10,064,914 9,328,754 
			 SEELB 7,160,509 7,910,645 8,583,079 9,106,492 8,393,759 
			 SELB 7,922,653 8,719,900 9,110,143 9,617,584 9,650,490 
			 WELB 6,335,935 6,864,352 7,704,919 8,164,700 8,114,576 
			 GMI 1,255,746 1,392,574 1,457,037 1,481,661 1,629,538 
			 Total 37,746,970 40,961,538 44,760,389 46,678,251 44,711,630

Warm Homes Scheme

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many households received funding from the Warm Homes Scheme in the last 12 months in each district council area in the Province.

David Hanson: Under the Warm Homes Scheme, eligible applicants are provided with insulation measures. The Warm Homes Plus scheme provides heating and insulation measures for all eligible pensioners.
	The information is as follows:
	
		
			 District council Number of households in receipt of insulation measures(77) Number of households in receipt of heating measures(77) 
		
		
			 Antrim 160 100 
			 Ards 239 85 
			 Armagh 320 166 
			 Ballyrnena 236 93 
			 Ballymoney 85 53 
			 Banbridge 224 79 
			 Belfast 1,285 553 
			 Carrickfergus 89 55 
			 Castlereagh 238 105 
			 Coleraine 155 106 
			 Cookstown 308 140 
			 Craigavon 467 217 
			 Derry 628 232 
			 Down 259 139 
			 Dungannon and South Tyrone 370 232 
			 Fermanagh 240 186 
			 Larne 100 50 
			 Limavady 175 74 
			 Lisburn 342 146 
			 Magherafelt 140 86 
			 Moyle 77 46 
			 Newry and Mourne 643 286 
			 Newtownabbey 359 201 
			 North Down 363 131 
			 Omagh 316 120 
			 Strabane 183 90 
		
	
	(77) These columns include those households which received both heating and insulation measures.